I had this done a couple of weeks ago but was giving it away as a birthday present and was afraid the recipient would end up here and see it. I absolutely love this piece. It was made from the same limb that big mama and son of big mama came from – some diseased sugar maple. This one I turned in a different orientation so it looks like landscape going around the jar.  The wood was a bit soft so a couple of coats of lacquer helped stabilize it a bit. The top is cherry and the knob is walnut with a Kremlin shape. I hated to part with this one but she seemed so pleased with it that it made it worthwhile. More Views and comments

This is another lidded vessel turned from a piece of Mahogany that someone gave me that he had left over from building a front door. Normally I don’t find mahogany all that attractive but to bring out the highlights in this I used a bit of yellow dye. The top is cherry. I experimented a bit (isn’t that what it is all about?) and did a bit of an undercut in the middle. I topped it off with a spindle made from walnut with black dye on it – poor man’s ebony! More Views and comments

Still working the off-cuts of that spalted maple. I found a labeled piece of Ambrosia Maple out in the wood room and it looks suspiciously like this stuff albeit without the black lines — which look a bit like someone had taken a Sharpie to the different shades. In fact, this whole piece has a somewhat cartoon-like quality to it. There is a yellowish stain that goes down deep in the wood (just like the Ambrosia piece I have). If it weren’t such a small spot it may have added to the character, now I just call it a flaw. The lid is a pop fit and made from walnut. This vessel is about 3″ tall. Finished with lacquer and wax.More Views and comments

This is based on my small jars but on a larger scale. I found a piece of wood back in my lumber room that was a bit too “erose” to get any kind of bowl out of but it was so sweetly spalted that it needed to be used. I don’t even remember where it came from at this point — I should start labeling things.  I cut it into chunks to make smaller projects. This is the “full ounce” size measuring in at about 6″ tall by about 3″ in diameter. I thought about giving it to some friends who are getting married in a couple of weeks but I just can’t bear to let this one go (sound familiar?) Not sure what the wood is but I’m going to guess maple and the lid is cherry. It has a tight snap fit lid. Finished with teak oil and wax.More Views and comments

I had to choose from the many jars I had sitting on my mantle to give to a friend who is bringing us some willow. I had to pick up and study them all to see which I wanted to part with. This is the one I ended up with. It is a bit small but a good snap fit on the lid. Made from cherry and walnut with a short cherry spindle on the lid — the kind I call an apothecary jar. Highly polished with homemade friction polish. Unlike most of my jars, this one has a foot on it.